


afternoon delight

by ColorMeParanoid



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Misunderstandings, Thirsty Alec Lightwood, Thirsty Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27631405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorMeParanoid/pseuds/ColorMeParanoid
Summary: He’s puttering around the kitchen while Alec gets settled in the living room. Since both of them have the rest of the night off - barring some sort of emergency - they settled on watching a movie. “Can I get you something before we start?” Magnus asks, ever the good host.Alec is silent for a moment, clearly contemplating something. Then, he says, “I wouldn't say no to some afternoon delight.”Magnus nearly chokes on his own spit.
Relationships: Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Comments: 10
Kudos: 151





	afternoon delight

Magnus watches as the potion he’s been working on for most of the day goes up in flames and curses under his breath. It’s been a while since he’s tried his hand with this particular potion, and he’s pretty sure that’s not what’s supposed to happen. He peers carefully into the cauldron only to find all the ingredients burnt to a crisp and curses again. He spent hours watching the potion bubble away like a hawk, and now it was all for nothing.

The potion is fussy, for an even fussier client. Men who cannot accept their hair loss could be absolutely infuriating, though he probably only thinks that because he’ll never have to face the same issue. He runs a hand through his hair to confirm that it’s still as luscious and plentiful as always. Reassured, he glares at his cauldron and starts gathering all of his supplies to start again.

Stupid or not, the client is offering quite a lot of money. Who is Magnus to refuse?

Besides, the great Magnus Bane isn’t about to let a potion he invented outsmart him. And if it does, well, it’s not like anyone is here to witness his failure.

Just then, a knock sounds at his door and he frowns. Usually, his wards alert him to anyone’s arrival, so whoever it is must be a close friend if they just let him walk up to his front door without an ounce of wariness. “Come in!” he calls out and opens the door with a flick of his wrist and goes back to work.

The smell of freshly baked garlic bread wafts through his loft and his stomach makes a sound that’s downright demonic. It makes Magnus wonder if he’d accidentally opened a portal to Edom without realizing. But, as long as there’s garlic bread, he couldn’t care less.

He turns and frowns when he sees Alec standing there, leaning on the doorway of his apothecary and watching him work with a small smile on his face, bags from their favorite Italian restaurant in his hand. Alec didn’t seem worried or anxious; if anything, he looks the most relaxed Magnus has seen him thus far. And yet, the occurrence is unusual enough to cause concern.

“Who’s dying?” he asks, already mourning the pay from his demanding client because apparently the universe hates him and won’t stop throwing emergencies his way.

“No one, as far as I know,” Alec says, his smile twisting into a frown. He places the bags on the table and leans in for a kiss that Magnus returns on pure instinct. His heart flutters a little in delight because this has quickly turned into a part of their routine. They’ve been dating long enough to have a routine! And they’re still going strong!

“Ah.” Magnus nods, going along with it despite his confusion. “I’m afraid my potion skills are a bit rusty, but I can offer you a drink? Some coffee maybe, or are you here for some afternoon delight?” Magnus says with a leer, hoping to elicit that lovely blush on his darling’s face. One of these days, he’ll get to find out just how far it goes. Hopefully sooner rather than later. He’s only but a man, after all.

A man with a hopelessly oblivious boyfriend, apparently.

“Is that one of your new tea blends?”

Magnus blinks at him. “What?”

“Afternoon delight?” Alec asks with an adorable furrow of his brows. “It’s a tea blend?”

“Right,” Magnus says slowly, still a touch taken aback. “A tea blend. That’s exactly what it is?”

Alec smiles at him like he doesn’t quite believe him, but he’s going along with it anyway for the sake of his own sanity. It’s a smart choice, he has to admit. Then, his stomach growls again, loud enough to startle Alec. Magnus clears his throat and says, “It’s Chairman. He’s been possessed by a demon. Just ignore him.”

“Sure.” Alec gives him one last weird look and starts unpacking the food he’s brought. “That’s why I’m here. I have the afternoon off and I figured you haven’t actually eaten anything yet.” He gives Magnus a chastising look and Magnus rolls his eyes. They both know Alec is just as bad, if not worse. “So, I figured I’d stop by and bring you some lunch.”

Magnus melts and joins Alec on the couch, kissing his cheek. “Thank you, darling. That's very sweet of you.”

“It's nothing.” Alec says, dismissive of compliments as per usual. Magnus makes a mental note to up his game.

“It’s everything,” Magnus says, his words carrying a lot more meaning than he intended. Alec didn’t seem to pick up on it as he serves their food onto the plates Magnus has summoned from the kitchen. For all he likes to deny it, Alec was one of the most thoughtful and caring people Magnus has ever had the pleasure of knowing. The omamori that’s currently residing in his pocket is proof enough.

“You know,” Magnus says, “I believe this is the first time I’ve actually seen you during the daylight. If I didn’t already know you were a Shadowhunter, I would have thought you were a vampire.” It’s intended to be a joke, but all of a sudden Alec looks sad.

“I’m sorry, Magnus,” he says. “I know that I work a lot and that we don’t spend as much time together as we’d both like-“

“Hey, no. Stop that, darling.” Magnus cuts in, taking Alec’s hands in his own. “This was a poor attempt at a joke, not a dig at you. I knew what I was signing up for when we started dating.” Sure, it was an adjustment at first, having to work around both of their hectic schedules, but it only made the time they got to spend together all the more meaningful. “It’s not all on you. Both of us have demanding jobs, but I think we’re doing pretty well so far, don’t you?”

Alec nods, already more relaxed. “I do. But it could be better. Maybe we could try meeting up for lunch more often?”

Magnus smiles, kissing Alec again just because he can. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

*

True to his word, a few days later there’s another unexpected knock on his door. It’s a lovely Friday afternoon, and unlike the last time, Magnus is in a wonderful mood. Not only has he beaten the tricky potion back into submission, he’s even found a way to make it better. Soon enough, the balding man would come complain about his too long hair and Magnus will take great pleasure in handing him a card to a local hair salon and slamming the door in his face. Petty, sure, but if the man thinks insulting him would end without consequences, he has another thing coming. 

He didn’t expect Alec to show up again quite this soon, and this time he’s actually managed to feed himself so they put the food in the fridge to save for dinner. Last time, Alec didn’t have a chance to stay for long before he got unexpectedly called into work again and Magnus isn’t going to lie – he was a bit disappointed. Things were moving in a very promising direction, but the shrill ringtone of Alec’s phone killed the mood pretty effectively.

Magnus is sure they’ll get there eventually. Maybe even in this decade. If they're lucky.

He’s puttering around the kitchen while Alec gets settled in the living room. Since both of them have the rest of the night off - barring some sort of emergency - they settled on watching a movie. “Can I get you something before we start?” Magnus asks, ever the good host.

Alec is silent for a moment, clearly contemplating something. Then, he says, “I wouldn't say no to some afternoon delight.”

Magnus nearly chokes on his own spit. Did Alec just-? No, it’s not possible. He must have heard it wrong.

“Can you repeat that?” he says, his voice sounding strained even to his own ears.

“Afternoon delight,” Alec says, and Magnus swears that there’s a glint of a challenge in his eyes. “The new tea blend you mentioned the other day.”

“Of course.” Magnus chuckles weakly. “Silly me. One afternoon delight coming right up!” he says and flees to the safety of the kitchen. He rummages through his cupboards and through his sizable collection of different tea blends with punny names and brews the first tea he grabs, hoping that Alec won’t ask too many questions. He’s making the situation unnecessarily complicated, and he knows it. But he won’t admit to propositioning Alec when the poor man was being so nice and considerate by brining him lunch. He's in too deep now. Since when does Alec even like tea? 

With a slightly manic smile, he offers Alec the cup of tea and Alec takes an exaggerated sniff. He takes a careful sip and frowns in thought. “Hmm, tastes like cherries.” 

“There’s no cherries in _Dulce & Banana_,” Magnus corrects before he can stop himself. Alec smirks.

“Huh. That’s strange,” Alec remarks, setting the tea down on the coffee table, raising an eyebrow at Magnus with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s almost as if afternoon delight isn’t a tea at all.”

Magnus narrows his eyes. It seems he’s been made.

“Who told you?”

“No one! I do have the Internet, you know,” Alec says, a little defensive. “I looked it up.”

“Did you now?” Magnus says, trying to cut the tension, or at least turn it into a more pleasant type to spare them an impending argument. He’s fought over stupider things and it was never as entertaining as people told him it would be. But it doesn’t work. Alec is still feeling insecure about being deceived so easily, so Magnus’ suggestive tone goes right over his head.

“Of course I did,” Alec says, shooting Magnus an unexpectedly playful look. “You know, you’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are. I knew something was up the moment you said it.”

Magnus takes that statement as a challenge that it is. “You’ve already proved your point. So, what happens next? Surely you must have planned it all out.”

Alec doesn’t deny it. “I already told you what I came here for. Not my fault you misinterpreted my initial request.”

Magnus frowns, then gapes when the realization hits him. Alec has come to the loft for, and he quotes, “ _some afternoon delight_.” If it weren’t for the context, Magnus would have taken it as an offer that it was. But still. Alec is direct about many things, but Magnus knows sex is not one of them. On rare occasions that he’s tried to bring it up and talk about it, Alec had blushed so hard even Magnus was impressed so he’d ultimately decided to give it more time and left the topic alone for the time being.

It seems he might have judged Alec too quickly. Like he said before, Alec wouldn’t hesitate to blow up the ground he stood on to make things right. And to get laid too, apparently. Not that Magnus is complaining. But he must have spaced out for a moment too long because Alec’s hopeful and shy expression shutters down visibly into his regular stoic Shadowhunter mask.

“Unless you don’t want to-“ he says, cutting himself off. “I shouldn’t have assumed-”

“Oh, but I do.” Magnus can’t even begin to describe just how much he’s been craving Alec. Saying it was from the moment they met was incredibly cheesy but not much of an exaggeration. He did always have a competency kink. And seeing Alec expertly take out a Circle member without even breaking a sweat did things to him. “I really, _really_ do. But only if you’re sure.”

“Magnus…” Alec stays perfectly still as Magnus approaches him, not stopping until he’s towering over Alec who’s still sitting on his couch, seemingly too entranced to move. It makes Magnus feel like a literal god.

“Yes?” he prompts when Alec fails to give him a response and he revels in a jerky nod of Alec’s head.

“ _Please_.”

And how could Magnus ever deny him anything? He takes Alec by the hand and pulls him in the direction of his bedroom, Alec nearly tripping over his feet in his haste to follow him.

Afternoon delight, indeed.


End file.
